2008 FORD ESCAPE Complaints

THE LIFTGATE WINDOW LATCH ON MY 2008 FORD ESCAPE XLT HAS SEPARATED FROM THE REAR WINDOW GLASS. THE GLUE JOINT HAS FAILED AND ALLOWED THE LATCH TO BREAK AWAY FROM THE WINDOW. NOW THE WINDOW CANNOT BE CLOSED TIGHTLY AND LOCKED. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE THE EXHAUST GASES MAY BE DRAWN INTO THE CABIN THROUGH THE GAP BETWEEN THE WINDOW AND THE WINDOW SEAL ON THE LIFTGATE. IT IS ALSO A SECURITY ISSUE, SINCE SOMEONE COULD EASILY PRY THE WINDOW OPEN AND ENTER THE VEHICLE CABIN. ORIGINALLY, THE LATCH WAS APPARENTLY GLUED TO THE GLASS AND ALSO IS ATTACHED LOOSELY WITH A SINGLE BOLT TO THE REAR WINDOW WIPER ASSEMBLY. RIGHT NOW, THE SEPARATED LATCH IS FLOPPING AROUND IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE WINDOW CAN BE PULLED OPEN BY ABOUT 1/2 TO 1 INCH. THIS IS CLEARLY A DEFECT IN THE DESIGN OF THIS LATCH ON THIS VEHICLE. THE LATCH IS ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL TO THE SECURITY AND SAFETY OF THE OCCUPANTS OF THE VEHICLE. I BELIEVE THAT THE NHTSA SHOULD FORCE FORD TO RECALL THEIR VEHICLES WITH THIS SAME INSECURE DEFECTIVE LATCH DESIGN AND REPLACE IT WITH A SECURE DESIGN THAT WILL REMAIN ATTACHED TO THE WINDOW GLASS. *TR

APPROACHING A STOP SIGN ON A HILL, I HIT A ROUGH PATCH IN THE STREET AND MY BRAKES FAILED TO THE POINT I HAD TO FRANTICALLY PUMP THEM TO NOT ROLL STRAIGHT INTO THE INTERSECTION. FOR THE NEXT THREE OR FOUR DAYS, ANY TIME I BRAKED, THE PEDAL WOULD DEPRESS ALMOST TO THE FLOOR WHILE VERY SLOWLY DECELERATING THE CAR, I OFTEN HAD TO PUMP THE BRAKES TO BUILD SOME PRESSURE IN ORDER TO STOP. CLEARLY AN ABS FAILURE, IT SEEMED TO "FIX ITSELF" AFTER THOSE FEW DAYS. NOW AGAIN, 10/23/2014, HIT A POTHOLE PULLING INTO A DRIVEWAY AND THE BRAKES ARE DOING THE SAME THING. GOOGLED THE PROBLEM AND READ ABOUT BROKEN TONE RINGS (SIMILAR COMPLAINTS ABOUT LOSS OF ABS), BUT NO LIGHTS ILLUMINATE WHEN IT HAPPENS. I NEED TO TAKE IT IN, BUT I KNOW THE DEALERSHIP WILL GIVE ME THE RUN-AROUND AND TRY TO CHARGE ME AN ARM AND A LEG FOR SOMETHING THAT'S CLEARLY A MANUFACTURING DEFECT. *TR

DURING COOLER WEATHER THE GAS PEDAL BECOMES "STUCK" AND CAN NOT BE PUSHED. ALMOST AS THOUGH SOMETHING IS PLACED UNDER THE GAS PEDAL. YOU HAVE TO LITERALLY STOMPED ON IT TO GET IT DOWN AND SOMETIMES THAT DOESN'T EVEN WORK. WHEN THIS PROBLEM INITIALLY STARTED HAPPENING, IT WOULD HAPPEN RIGHT AFTER STARTING. I BEGAN TO TELL MY DAUGHTER TO WARM HER CAR AND PRESS THE PEDAL A FEW TIMES BEFORE LEAVING. SHE JUST CALLED ME AND THIS INCIDENT HAPPENED WHILE SHE WAS DRIVING! IT IS 54 DEGREES HERE AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IT HAS HAPPENED SINCE LAST WINTER. I HAVE READ SEVERAL COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS AND FEEL THAT IT IS A HUGE SAFETY HAZARD ESPECIALLY FOR MY 16 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER. *TR

WHILE DRIVING WITH THE TRANSMISSION IN OVERDRIVE THE WRENCH LIGHT WAS ACTIVATED AND I NOTICED NO CHANGE IN SPEED BUT NOTICED A VERY LARGE CHANGE IN THE TACHOMETER FROM 2000 RPM TO 4500 AT THAT TIME THE CAR JUST STARTED SLOWING DOWN UNTIL I TOOK IT OUT OF O/D AND JUST CONTINUED ON MY WAY. IT SEEMS LIKE IT IS SOMETHING IN THE TRANSMISSION THAT IS CAUSING THIS PROBLEM. *TR

IN PARKING LOT, POWER STEERING WENT AWAY. RECENTLY HAD DEAD BATTERY, REPLACED BATTERY AND SEEMED TO FIX ISSUE. WEEK LATER, STOPPED AT STOP LIGHT, HEARD CLICK, THEN WHEN PULLING AWAY FROM STOP LIGHT NO POWERING STEERING. PULLED INTO A PARKING LOT, CALLED SPOUSE, CAME TO PARKING LOT, STARTED CAR AND POWERING STEERING WORKING AGAIN. DROVE CAR TO DEALER FOR REPAIR. I SEE THERE IS A RECALL FOR CERTAIN 2008 ESCAPES, BUT NOT FOR THE ONE WITH THIS VIN. ISSUE SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE RECALL FOR CERTAIN 2008 ESCAPES. WHY NOT HIS ONE? *TR

AS I WOULD TAKE OFF THE VEHICLE SEEMED TO JERK REALLY HARD WHEN SWITCHING GEARS AND THE WRENCH LIGHT CAME ON.I HAD SOMEONE RUN A TEST AND IT SAID IT WAS MY TRANSMISSION AND AFTER RESEARCHING MY FRIEND FOUND A RECALL ON THIS AND READ SEVERAL OTHERS ARE HAVING THE SAME ISSUE. *TR

AS I WAS EXITING A RAMP, THE CAR STOPPED ACCELERATING COMPLETELY. .FORCING ME TO PULL OVER, AS I CONTINUE ON IT DOES NOT ACCELERATE WHEN GAS IS PUSHED COMPLETELY DOWN. WRENCH LIGHT CAME ON BUT LEAVES WHEN CAR IS OFF. DRIVING APROX. 3 BLOCKS BEFORE WRENCH LIGHT COMES ON AGAIN... *TR

THE VEHICLE NEEDS A SECOND MOTOR REPLACEMENT. IT BREAKS DOWN WITH NO WARNING PRIOR TO DOING SO, CAUSING GREAT DANGER ON THE ROAD FOR DRIVER AND PASSENGERS AS WELL AS OTHER DRIVERS ON THE ROAD. BOTH TIMES THE CAR BROKE DOWN ON MY THERE WAS NO INDICATION ON THE DASHBOARD, NO AUDIBLE WARNING AND IT SHUTS DOWN IN A FASHION WHERE THERE IS LITTLE CONTROL OF THE CAR. I'VE ALSO RECENTLY HAD THE THROTTLE RECALL ADDRESSED. THE FIRST MOTOR DIED AT 65K IN 2012 AND THIS MOTOR HAS NOW DIED AT 35K IN 2014. CLEARLY THERE IS SOMETHING DANGEROUSLY WRONG WITH THE HYBRID MOTOR AND/OR THE LOAD OF THE OTHER HYBRID COMPONENTS. *TR

VEHICLE WON'T SHIFT INTO 2ND GEAR UNTIL REACHING 3500 - 4000 RPMS. CAN LET OFF GAS TO EASE CHANGE, ELSE VEHICLE JERKS INTO 2ND. *TR

"STUCK GAS PEDAL": AS I WAS DRIVING TO WORK IN MODERATELY HEAVY TRAFFIC ON US 127 IN MICHIGAN AT APPROXIMATELY 8 A.M., ON 10 OCTOBER 2014, THE GAS PEDAL FROZE ON MY (MANUAL TRANSMISSION) 2008 FORD ESCAPE AND I BEGAN TO LOSE SPEED QUICKLY FROM THE 70 MPH I HAD BEEN TRAVELING. THE PEDAL WOULD NOT MOVE UP OR DOWN NO MATTER HOW HARD I PUSHED OR PULLED AT IT. I TRIED KICKING IT AS BEST AS I COULD BUT IT WOULD NOT BUDGE, AND THE FLOOR MAT WAS NOT NEAR THE PEDAL AT ALL. I HAD TO MANEUVER TO THE SHOULDER OF THE ROAD AND CONTINUED 'COASTING' WHILE I TRIED TO GET THE PEDAL TO MOVE. THE AREA I WAS AT WAS NOT CONDUCIVE TO A FULL STOP UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY DUE TO THE CLEARANCE ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND THE CURVE I WAS ON. MY SPEED HAD DROPPED TO LESS THAN 55 MPH WHEN THE GAS PEDAL FINALLY RELEASED AND I WAS ABLE TO PUSH IT DOWN TO INCREASE MY SPEED AGAIN AND EVENTUALLY WORK BACK INTO TRAFFIC, THOUGH WITH CAUTION IN CASE IT HAPPENED AGAIN AS I WAS STILL NOT IN AN AREA SAFE FOR A FULL STOP. THE TEMPERATURE AT THAT TIME WAS AROUND FREEZING. I TOOK THE ESCAPE TO THE FORD DEALER AND THEY SAID NO CODES APPEARED WHEN SCANNED SO THERE WAS NOTHING TO INDICATE IT HAD HAPPENED. THEY ALSO TOLD ME THAT NEITHER MY VEHICLE, NOR THE THROTTLE ASSEMBLY IN IT ARE LISTED AS PART OF THE RECALL FOR "STICKY ACCELERATOR PEDAL" FOR FORD ESCAPES. THIS IS A 2008 MANUAL TRANSMISSION, 4 CY., 4-DOOR, 2WD ESCAPE. WHY WAS IT NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL? I'VE HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE GAS PEDAL 'CATCHING' AND THEN IMMEDIATELY RELEASING SINCE WE BOUGHT IT (AT ABOUT 16000 MILES), BUT THE DEALER COULD NEVER DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM AND THUS DID NOTHING ABOUT IT. MY ONLINE RESEARCH INDICATES THIS "FROZEN" OR "STUCK" PEDAL (WHERE THE PEDAL WILL NOT DEPRESS AT ALL) IS NOT A NEW ISSUE AND ACROSS ALL MODEL YEARS, YET NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE BY FORD AND THEY REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE IT. *TR